We here at TheGloss are pretty big fans of Anne Hathaway. She’s talented, usually well-spoken and undeniably pretty. While I myself do not enjoy all the movies she has been in (ahem), I do think she has successfully achieved some pretty fantastic roles, too. Plus, she photographs gorgeously and is always recognizable as herself in portraits. But this February’s cover of the UK edition of Harper’s Bazaar sort of irks me.

I think some of the most appealing aspects of Hathaway’s appearance are her exaggerated features, which she herself has referred to as being “very large” on her “very small head.” I think her defined nose is lovely and her full lips are enviable and her giant eyes (she does definitely has giant eyes) are stunning, but something about this cover is uncomfortably different than her normal appearance. She looks beautiful, but she doesn’t really look all that much like herself. I have a feeling it’s merely the positioning of her face in relation to the camera and the fact that, due to her expression, her eyes look much smaller and more downturned than usual, but I must admit that I am still not a huge fan of this cover. It feels too forced, as though they are attempting to make Hathaway project a different star’s essence.

“For a long time it was me and [my manager] against the world. I was seen as this bizarre-world, good-girl cartoon that I in no way identified with – very vanilla, very sweet, very accessible and not interesting. I had no grit, no sex appeal.”

While I am always bummed out when I hear negative self-image stuff come out of anybody’s mouth, it seems like Hathaway tends to state those things more than most, so it makes me even sadder. But for some reason, I also think that if people have those issues with themselves, it can often be important to discuss them and — if you’re a celebrity, at least — it might help somebody else feel less alone in his or her own image problems. Plenty of people don’t think of themselves as sexy, and considering how intense of a focus our culture puts on that aspect of appearance, they may feel as though something’s missing, so it’s comforting for them to know people who are often thought of as gorgeous and sexy don’t see themselves that way.

She also kind of backhandedly compliments Rihanna:

“I’m not Rihanna. I’m not cool. When people come to me in the street, they often want a hug not a photo, and they want that because they like my work.”

Well, first of all, I have a feeling a whole lot of people want to take photos with her. Second, I’m pretty sure most of the people who want to take photos with Rihanna like her work and don’t just want to take photos because she’s “cool.” Nevertheless, I still think Anne Hathaway’s public persona is, for the most part, a very likable and relatable one in ways that most celebrities’ are not — a role that she should embrace.